Glass Ornaments and a Little TLC

Remember these? Found 'em while I was doing a little treasure hunting. There are endless projects to be done with clear glass Christmas balls. Today, I'm gonna share one project that you can do with these beauties. Well, I guess it's just one project...one project with several different outcomes. Hang on to your socks...I told you I had a feeling I'd been knocking them off!


So here is what the ornaments looked like before. Someone had spent lots of time folding up little pipe cleaners and stuffing them into each ball. Lucky for me, I ended up with glass ornaments and lots of pipe cleaners to use for another project!


I used all 12 for this project...they were too pretty to stop stuffing! I decided to top them off with all different sorts of embellishments. I ended up filling them all with vintage sheet music, but I chose 3 different ways to stuff them; rolled up, crimped, and plain ole strips. Here are several close ups. I know, I know...I took A LOT of pictures, but you're only seeing the ones that I posted! They are just so darling!


When I started this project, I thought I would do them all alike. I pulled out all the pipe cleaners and began cutting the sheet music into strips.


I just started stuffing the balls with the strips, until they were full enough for me ( I had to use tweezers) and then put the caps back on.



I used all sorts of pieces for embellishments. Brown ribbon, burlap, twine, lace, even a few of the pipe cleaners I had pulled out.



I got tired of just the strips, so I started rolling the strips up, holding them tightly for a few seconds, then stuffing them down into the glass. I think these turned out real pretty!


I had an old big book of sheet music, probably used for piano practice, and then I had an old hymnal. The hymnal pages actually rolled up and held their shape better, but I preferred the grungy color of the sheet music. In the ornament below, I used the hymnal pages. Can you tell the difference in color?




The last style I used was crimping, or what looked like crimping. I just folded the strips, accordian style, back and forth, then stuffed into the balls. You see my repurposed pipe cleaners sticking out up there?!



Gosh, I just love how these turned out!

What do you think? Still wearing you socks?


Linking Up:











http://shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/

Treasure Hunting

Ya'll know me...this southern chick is ALWAYS lookin' for a deal. Gimme something to recreate, to transform, something shiny, I need something to spray paint, or hot glue...and I want it CHEAP. And this week has been a great week as far as treasure hunting is concerned. I made my weekly rounds; Christian Ministries, Habitat, and the Basement Flea Market, and I found a plethora of goodies.

This table and everything on it cost me $18.00. I can't wait to get to work!

These little glass Christmas balls were $0.75. They aren't the same ones as those on the table above. Those were Martha Stewart (ooooohhhhh) and cost me a buck.

When I saw these I had to have them. They are really big right now, especially in Pottery Barn and Ballard, and look great in a dining room or kitchen. $1.00 each

I thought this were precious. $2.00 for the shorter one and $3.00 for the taller.

And this beauty...$10.00! We have an old crate for our coffee table but it has been out of commission for the last month because I have been using it for craft shows. The hubby has been asking for the coffee table back and then I stumble upon this diamond in the rough. Love at first sight!

All I can say is this...ya'll get ready to be wowed because these transformations are gonna knock your socks off! I can just feel it!

Embellishment-A-Thon...

I have been such the busy little bee this weekend. My imagination has been blossoming with ideas. And I use the term "blossoming" in more than just the literal sense. Little felted flowers are popping up all over mi casa, much to my husbands dismay. My kitchen table has become creativity central with bins of yard sale embellishments, stacks of different colored felt, mason jars full of beads and buttons, and I even pulled out and dusted off the old Bedazzler. Man, I sure have missed that thing! I told you I was hooked on these cute little rosettes, but now I am beginning to think that I am way past the stage of "hooked"...obsessed might be the best term.


In working on these cute little accessories, I thought, "Isn't this the perfect gift or addition to an outfit for Valentine's Day."

In the back of my mind, I remembered buying a plastic bag full of lace trimmings, pearl sprays, and other vintage ornaments from some sweet old lady having a yard sale. Her days of creating wedding and shower corsages were long gone, and a little outdated if I may say so myself. Digging through my craft room, there it was, that neatly packed Ziploc bag, my diamonds in the rough. I then proceeded to plug in that age old hot glue gun, cover my kitchen table with everything I'd collected, and get to work. Several hot glue burns later, some of the tackiest, gaudiest, most beautiful corsages lay before me. When I use the term tacky, I use it loosely, and in repetition of my better half's explanation of some of my work. I tend to believe tacky to be a good attribute, full of fun and individuality, rare and extraordinary.

Ya'll just have to know that I have had a ball! It's just too bad that I didn't have anyone to celebrate these flashy, entertaining creations with. That's why I'm pouring it all out on my blog. Now I have shared in this experience with others, in hopes that there may be someone out there who might receive the slightest merriment from my weekend embellishment-a-thon. Who knows, maybe I've inspired you to blow off the dust on some age old project you've been planning to work on for the past 20 years. My prayer for you is that you get that freeing feeling, the one where endless possibilities lay before you. And just think, all you have to do is plug in that hot glue gun!

P.S. Dear sweet little old lady who had the yard sale. I must apologize to you if you're out there reading this. My thoughts of your trimmings being outdated were very snobbish and unreasonable. They were the perfect finishing touches to my Valentine's Day corsages. I hope you will accept my apology.